Hi Rick,
Most photos work best when the horizon line is parallel with the edge of the photo frame. There are exceptions to the rule of course – sometimes photographers will tilt the camera onto an angle to include a diagonal element or simply to shake up our view of the world – but most of the time a level horizon works best.
The reason I raise this point is that I have a feeling that you have aligned the horizon of this photograph with the bricks we can see at eye level.
Now, as most architectural illustrators will tell you those bricks on the wall might be built level with the horizon but unless you are looking directly square onto the building, they do not represent the horizon.
Here’s why… if you are standing directly in front of a tall building looking up you will notice that all the lines are converging… and if you were to put that building onto its side and look down the street to where the top of it is now lying, those lines are still converging. And the fun part… anything at eye level is not going to be level with the horizon but it is going to be tilting DOWNWARDS towards the horizon. Why; because the horizon is at ground level… not eye level.
Now, to get the horizon level it is usually helpful if the photographer can actually “see” the horizon. But what happens if you cannot see the horizon?
So what do you do to resolve this problem if you are in the middle of the city and you cannot see the horizon? The simplest thing to do is look for a vertical line in the MIDDLE of the picture and align the photo with that.
To make this picture look just that little bit more convincing, align the vertical with the line of bricks running up the middle of the picture. As soon as you do this, the image looks better.
Aside from that, this is a rather interesting picture. Well done.
Cheers, Anthony
Image Doctor's edited version
